With the federal election campaign fully underway the major political parties are selling themselves to people who want to own homes.
The Conservatives appear to have taken direct aim at first time buyers.
- Saying they want to make it easier for buyers to qualify for financing.
- Promising tweaks to the mortgage stress test and insurance.
- They say they will “encourage” lenders to provide 7 and 10-year mortgages.
- Increasing housing stock by:
- Getting 1 million homes built in 3 years.
- Banning foreign buyers who will not be living in the homes.
- Converting at least 15% of government property into housing.
The NDP plan centers on getting more housing.
- Promising to build 500,000 affordable homes over 10 years.
- Proposing 30-year mortgages insured by CMHC.
- Levying a 20% Foreign Buyers Tax on home sales to those who are not citizens or permanent residents.
The Liberals appear to be maintaining their housing plan from 2017 and the plan laid out in the 2021 federal budget.
- Committing $2.5 billion for the construction of 35,000 affordable housing units as part of a broader commitment to so-called social infrastructure.
- Proposing a tax on “underused” housing.
- Offering a 100% GST rebate to eliminate the GST on all new rental properties.
The Green Party had not issued its platform at the time of this writing.